Broken
by vixundermybed
Summary: Suddenly he was struck from behind, and a searing, sharp pain went through his entire body. Everything was eerily silent. For a few seconds he stood in shock, then he fell in a mess of his own crimson blood. The story of Scourge's son.
1. Chapter 1

I'm alive (; I've been promising this for a while. Broken, the story of if Scourge left a son to the Clans. Enjoy. This isn't the best chapter, but still. It gets better...

* * *

"But…"

"Shut up."

Shardpaw lowered his head.

"Yes Skytalon."

He continued to frown down at him. "Well, you heard me you little idiot. You catch three rabbits and you can come back."

Glancing around at the barren leaf-bare landscape, Shardpaw bit his tongue to keep from talking back. "Three rabbits. Right."

He turned and padded into the undergrowth. When he heard his mentor's footsteps fade away, he wailed.

"Why?" He whispered, staring up at the darkening sky. "Why did they have to do it to me…death can't be much worse than this…"

He burst into a sprint, heading to the only place he found peace in. The stream marking the end of ThunderClan and the beginning of ShadowClan. His stream.

Leaning over the freezing water, he lapped it once then stared down at his reflection, distorted by the quiet rippling.

"I did nothing wrong. Why the Mark?"

He touched his nose to the water, ignoring the searing shock that jolted through his body. Across his nose was a straight scar, rippling in the altered image staring up at him. The Mark.

His Mark.

He closed his eyes. What had he done to deserve this?

"Are you going to freeze your nose off?"

His head shot up, water on his nose spraying across the stream. Standing across from him was a white she-cat with golden eyes staring at him with a small smile.

He stood up, glaring at her. "What do you want? Aren't you scared of me, like everyone else?"

She tilted her head, looking a bit hurt. "What are you talking about?" She questioned. "The only thing I might be scared of is the fact that you were talking to yourself." The white she-cat paused, then added, "My name's Snowbliss."

"Hi," He replied softly. She wasn't scared of him. Someone that wasn't scared of him…He narrowed his eyes.

She probably didn't even know. "You should be scared," He whispered, looking at the ground.

A concerned look flashed in her eyes, but she stayed on the other side of the stream. "Why's that?" She asked after a minute.

He closed his eyes.

"My name's Shardpaw."

She stared at him, eyes wide. "W-what?" She whispered softly, as if thinking he was kidding.

"Can't you see?!" He shouted at her. He stood up. "The Mark! The Mark! They gave it to me." He felt tears pricking in his eyes. "They gave it to me, to help them remember that I'm someone they should never trust."

He glanced at her and his eyes widened. The she-cat had crossed the stream and as he had looked up, they had touched noses.

She pulled away and looked at the ground, eyes wide as well. She looked embarrassed. "Sorry," She murmured.

He took a step backwards. "Are you going to run now, like everyone else?!" He yelled at her, eyes narrowed.

She moved closer to him and looked him in the eye. "I'm not going to run," She whispered at him. "You could be the son of anyone," Snowbliss told Shardpaw softly. "That doesn't make you anything."

She backed up, into the stream, ignoring the freezing water. "You decide what you want to be." She backed into ShadowClan territory and turned.

Glancing over her shouder, she murmured, "Kin can't change anything." And then she ran off, leaving the black tom all alone.

Shardpaw lowered his head to the ground until it touched the dead leaves rustling in the winter breeze.

_She doesn't care who I am.

* * *

_

"Look who's back," Skytalon sneered. Shardpaw glared at him but said nothing, dragging the rabbits onto the fresh-kill pile.

He turned and padded into the apprentice's den. When he settled down in some moss, the cats near him stared at him with disgust and moved away.

He unsheathed his claws and dug them into the ground. Everyone was so unfair to him.

Shardpaw recalled the white she-cat and sighed. Snowbliss…that had been her name…

He closed his eyes.

* * *

The next day he went out hunting upon order from Skytalon and found himself near the stream. He looked across the clearing and saw Snowbliss lapping softly at the water.

He padded forward and was looking at her with his head tilted when she looked up.

At first she was surprised to see him standing there, then she smiled. "Look who came back," the white she-cat teased him.

He looked down. "Yeah," He muttered.

She watched him for a few moments, her expression changing to that of a sad one. "You've never been loved, have you?" She whispered.

He stiffened, but didn't say anything.

"Snowbliss! Where are you?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh no, I forgot!" She jumped forward and touched noses with Shardpaw. He blinked in shock, but shook it off as she darted back into the undergrowth without another word.

* * *

Later that day he heard Firestar calling from the Highrock. He stood up and padded out of the den.

"There has been an apprentice who has been working hard for many moons that is ready to become a warrior," He began. Shardpaw snorted. Of course, they all worked so hard.

"Shardpaw, please step forward."

The black tom froze. His warrior ceremony…now? Skytalon was staring at Firestar, his face twisted in rage.

He slowly made his way to the front.

"I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan," The leader began, "call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend him to you as warrior in his turn. Shardpaw, do you promise to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Shardpaw took a deep breath, pushing away his doubt. "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Shardpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Shardscar."

Skytalon sneered at him as he stood in shock at what Firestar had named him.

"Serves him right," He snarled. "The traitor…"

Shardscar suddenly felt a deep anger bubble up from within him.

_Kill them, _A voice whispered into his head, and his eyes widened.

_What do they deserve?_

"Shardscar!" Skytalon laughed, and others joined in, jeering insults at him.

Skytalon smacked him across the ears. "A good name for a traitor like you," He hissed with a grin.

And something inside of Shardscar snapped.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews ;) I really do appreciate them. Answers at bottom!

* * *

_"Shardscar! A good name for a traitor like you."_

_And something inside of him snapped._

"NO!" Shardscar screamed. He turned on Skytalon and swiped a claw at his face. "You think you're so great," He snarled at his old mentor.

He clawed him again, and a drop of blood fell to the ground.

"ThunderClan, ThunderClan, let's help everyone!" He yelled, turning on everyone. "But then you find a kit that's done nothing wrong and you scar it for life, just to remind you that Scourge was my father!" He screamed.

Firestar stood in horror atop the highrock, frozen to the spot. _This wasn't supposed to be happening._

"And you!" He shouted, clawing Skytalon again. "You act like I'm your slave; 'bring back three rabbits, I'll give you another scar if you don't shut up, five mice or you can't eat for a day!'" He screamed in aggravation.

"You idiots think you're superior to everyone else, don't you? That nothing can hold you down!" He leapt at Skytalon, getting a hold of his throat.

He could feel him shaking in terror and surprise as he held him down.

"It's…it's unfair!"

There was a scream, then silence around the entire clearing.

Shardscar looked down at the limp body before him, the blood dripping from his jaws.

Skytalon's blood.

"Traitor!" Ashfur screeched, and he tackled Shardscar, catching him off guard.

"Scourge is your father; you're no different!" He yowled, and brought up a single claw.

"That first Mark," He spat into Shardscar's face as the new warrior tried to squirm out of the way, "Was just a warning, you know. This is the real thing."

He tore his claw across his forehead, once then twice as the tomcat screeched in agony.

Shardscar cursed at him and bit into his neck. Ashfur's grip loosened as he yowled in pain and Shardscar darted across the clearing and out the entrance.

"Get him," Ashfur yowled as he staggered toward Leafpool's den. "Get him and kill him!"

A few warriors darted after Shardscar, hot on his trail.

He darted back and forth, then finally spotted the stream and ran across it, water spraying everywhere. He threw a glance back at the stream and saw his blood swirling in it.

The warriors stopped at the stream, staring in horror at the water and a few scrunching up their nose at the acrid scent of ShadowClan. "He passed the border!" Brackenfur hissed.

"It's ShadowClan's problem now," Spat Dustpelt, glancing at the other tom. They looked across the border one more time then they turned and went back the other way.

Shardscar tried to catch his breath, collapsing from fatigue and loss of blood. His eyes stung as blood dripped into his eyes.

"ShadowClan," He mumbled. That meant…

No. What were the chances? He curled up in misery and exhaustion and licked a wound on his chest feebly. As he lifted his head and glanced around anxiously, he felt the edges of his vision beginning to darken.

There was a roaring in his ears, then everything turned black and he felt his head hit the ground.

* * *

He awoke freezing. _What had happened?_ Weakly lifting his head, he stared in awe at the barren land blanketed in white. Shardscar sat up, and a thick coat of snow fell off of his back. 

It had snowed. He shook his head and smelled the air. It was completely clean, with just the vague scent of ShadowClan lingering. _It must have masked my scent, _He thought. He yawned, and a sharp pain shot through his face.

As he came to a realization and staggered to his paws he felt multiple wounds tear back open. "StarClan, no…not again…please…" He staggered to his paws, ignoring his blood pooling in the white snow, and cocked his ears despite the ominous feeling he had in the back of his mind. "Please...don't do this to me again," he whispered.

Water. A stream. He could hear a stream. He turned and limped to where he heard it, his mind twisted to the single determination to reach it. His body was numb with cold, and the pain was slowly revealing itself again as he moved.

The stream was there when he reached it a few minutes later. Staring down at his reflection, his eyes widened.

His face still home to a few traces of snowflakes, a bloody X marked his forehead. He bowed his head, letting out a choked sob.

The first had been a warning, Ashfur had said. The second…was the real thing. He was exiled. Banned. He couldn't go back.

Suddenly the acrid scent of ShadowClan flared in his nostrils. He tensed. A patrol was coming right toward him. The only way to avoid them would be…

Back into ThunderClan.

Shardscar let in a deep breath, then stood up again, trying to ignore the cold, numb feeling beginning to seep through his paws.

With a shake of his pelt to rid himself of the snow that had since fallen on him, he took a step forward. He felt nothing but cold as his paw touched the soft white blanket.

He paused, took another breath, and leapt through the undergrowth silently.

An unexpected change of wind direction made him freeze. He was upwind of a group of cats – two or three at the least.

"Hey! I smell ThunderClan…!" He bit his tongue as the undergrowth rustled and two cats – one brown and one gray – appeared.

The gray one let out a yowl. "Intruder!" He screeched.

"Cedarheart!" Hissed the brown tom. "He's getting away!"

Shardscar shot into the brush, not expecting his paws to fail on him from the brutal cold. He tripped as one went limp and crumpled beneath him. He tumbled into a clearing –

And down a cliff.

Shardscar let out a wild yowl, clawing the air for something to grip. He screeched as he hit the ground with a thump, and his body became limp as much as he tried to prevent it.

He glanced up at the cliff to see a very familiar she-cat pelt through the undergrowth, before he closed his eyes and only became distantly aware of what they were saying.

"Oakfur, Cedarheart! What happened? I heard a yowl and -"

"We found a ThunderClan intruder. He fled, but he must have twisted a paw or something because he lost his footing and went off the cliff."

The white she-cat bent over the edge and held her breath as she recognized the crumpled and bloody tom at the bottom of the cliff.

"I'll bring him back to camp, you two. Finish patrolling the ThunderClan border."

"Snowbliss, are you sure?"

"Positive. He doesn't seem like much trouble. Now go."

Shardscar took a breath and felt his head spin. His front paw was numb from the cold. It was the one that had thrown him off a cliff. His whole body ached from the shock of falling that far.

_Quite a lot of trouble for a single day,_ he though faintly. He set his head down and closed his eyes.

* * *

Shardscar awoke to a soft light. Glancing wearily around, he found himself in a den of some sort. ThunderClan? No, the scent of ShadowClan hung in the air. 

Someone was talking outside the den.

"Snowbliss brought him into the camp, Blackstar. He was nearly frozen solid. He was torn up too. Snowbliss suggested we keep him as a prisoner."

"Do you know who he is?"

"Some cats do. They say he's Shardpaw of ThunderClan."

Shardscar's eyes widened. They knew who he was.

"Is he awake?" Blackstar demanded.

"Yes."

"Good. Send Snowbliss in to question him."

"Of course."

The next thing he knew, he saw a pretty white she-cat slipping through the entrance and staring at him in a mix between relief and fear.

"Shardpaw!" She hissed at him. "Are you okay!?"

"I-I'm fine..." He tried to stand up, but all four paws throbbed in pain.

"You fell down a cliff."

He glanced at her. "I'm fine. Why do you care so much anyway?"

She sat down. "Because you're mistreated, for one thing. And for another, if the 'prisoner' died Blackstar would kill me."

He shook his head and tried to get to his paws. They were numb and sore, but weren't cold anymore.

"What happened? Why were you in ShadowClan?" She asked quietly.

"They gave me my warrior name," He whispered. "Shardscar. My mentor started insulting me...He was saying that it was a good name for…for a traitor... I attacked them…Everyone started jumping at me...Ashfur put the X on my forehead…said the first Mark had been a warning and that this was the real thing. I ran across the border but I passed out...I-I woke up t-to the patrol…" He tried to catch his breath. Snowbliss was looking at him sympathetically.

"We can't let Blackstar know who you are," She said doubtfully. "If he finds out you'll have nowhere to go."

He stared at her. "Thanks, I guess..."

"I'll say that you're just a loner," She began after a few moments bearing a thoughtful pause, licking him once. "And that you were trying to flee from a rogue that attacked you."

He glanced at her. "All right." He laid down. "I guess I can live with being prisoner for a while."

"One more thing," she whispered as she backed out of the den, pausing as he stood up curiously.

"The gathering's tonight. Chances are Firestar's not going to be keen on keeping this a secret," She told him quietly.

He sighed, and laid down again. "That'll be a problem. But can we deal with that when it's necessary?"

She nodded. "Fine by me."

He set his head on the ground. "Will you come back later?" He asked her as she started to leave.

She glanced back at him for a second. "Sure," She said quietly, and left.

* * *

"Leafpool."

Firestar stepped into the medicine cat den, the moonlight bathing the floor in a white glow.

She looked up at him. "Firestar. Has StarClan contacted you yet?"

"No," He answered, glancing outside wearily, where he could hear cats chatting idly. "Nothing but the prophecy."

"If it's all they're willing to give us right now it must be important to remember our patience," She told him.

"This will be a hard time for ThunderClan, if it means what I think it means," He muttered, looking at his daughter with doubt in his eyes.

"If StarClan wills it, we will have to align with cats we would never think of joining," She agreed quietly.

Firestar was silent for a couple of moments, then he spoke, his voice low.

"I just don't understand what we are to do when he returns."

She rubbed up against him. "StarClan will show us when it's time."

He licked the top of her head. "I hope you're right," He sighed, looking toward the moon.

"I just wish all of this didn't have to happen."

* * *

**LostBluePhantom -** XD

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